The Fine Line of Excellence
by Christoph Andretti
Summary: Flynn had been in rough waters the past few years. After getting out of prison, he gets accepted for a job at the prestigious Hetalia Amalgamated Corporation, Inc. With the pressure of redemption from a certain Prussian manager, along with the incorrigible Francis, Alfred, and Elizabeta, he must devise a plan to appease others while finding his own path in life.
1. Chapter 1

Flynn was stuck in a chair of bubblegum. He swore the whole wooden frame underneath the seat was coated in the squished, mint-flavored substance. At least, that's what he thought it would taste like, considering the smell emanating around the room. In front of him, a freshly-burnt cigarette rested in an ash-filled dish. Next to it, two feet in brown penny loafers were crossed one over the other. The room itself somewhat grey and badly kept, reminding Flynn of an old hardboiled detectives office from many old stories.

A fist knocked on the wood in front of him. Flynn's eyes shot open and he looked up to the man at the other end of the desk.

"Mister Kelly." A British-accented voice said.

"Sorry. I got caught in a bit of a mental sand trap right there." Flynn said.

The man raised one of his large, chalk-thick black eyebrows, and he crossed his arms. Flynn smiled nervously and cleared his throat.

So Mister Kelly, I have a question for you. What brings you to our doorstep today?"

Flynn leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk. "Mister Cleveland, I need to-"

"What did you just call me."

Flynn stopped and looked down at the glass paperweight on the mahogany desk, bearing a name in gold plating.

"Mister Kirkland. Sorry. I want to be in a place that can help me grow as a person. A place that can gain me some stability. As you've seen from the files, I've had a rough go for the past few years in college. Not to mention, the normal hijinks fresh grads like me get entangled up in." Flynn said with a chuckle.

Arthur sat in silence while examining the tanned, chestnut haired and matching eyed young man in front of him.

"Anyway, I feel that an esteemed, and beloved company such as yours would be willing to entice a fresh face like me into this beautiful environment."

"Was that sarcasm?" Arthur asked.

"No."

Arthur stood up and took the file in his hand to the tall cabinet next to him. He flung open one of the stuffed drawers and shoved the thick manila folder into a slot. A crash resounded through the room as Flynn flinched. Arthur turned to Flynn.

"I'll be honest with you. I've been with this company for thirteen years. I have no idea what we do here. W file tax stuff. We do things for catalogs. We make contracts for places I can't pronounce. On top of that, I try to keep this division afloat. I'm about six years older than you, and I feel like we're in the exact same position of uncertainty."

Flynn shrugged and took a peppermint from the jar in front of him.

"I didn't say you could do that."

Flynn stopped mid-chew and swallowed. "What are the mints there for, then?"

Arthur's eye twitched and he let out a growl. "You ask for stuff like that first. You don't snatch it away. That was the last one."

"Sorry, sir. I need to know what my chances are of getting this job."

Arthur huffed and took out another piece of paper from the inside of his desk.

"At this point in the quarter, we'll take a monkey that can hold a crayon. Your grades are fine...and I guess there are things that can be overlooked. You're glad this company specializes in hiring people like you. otherwise, you'd be gone."

"People like me?" Flynn pointed at himself.

"Let's not act naive. Mister Honda on the thirtieth floor, however, loves when we can make success stories out of people. I'm sure you've read the brochure, though. And while I need to keep a close eye on everyone in this division, I guess it would only knock a few more years off of my life if I added one more."

"You're hiring me?"

Arthur nodded. Flynn smiled and thrusted his arm out at him.

"Your pay is non-negotiable for the first year. You'll report Monday at 8:00 A.M. to room 419 on the twenty-third floor."

"Thank you very much, sir. You made me very happy."

Arthur sighed and reached out gingerly for the younger man's hand. "And you've made me peppermintless."

* * *

The lower side of Atlanta, Georgia was generally not a pretty sight. While the airport and Five Points saved the area from being a total garbage heap, most of the surrounding parts by the perimeter of the city was slummy suburb. Flynn, dressed in a unwrinkled, grey business suit with a red tie, pedaled on his lime green Schwinn bicycle underneath a subway bridge as the MARTA train rocketed overhead. He coasted through the soft spring breeze as he rounded an intersection and came across his apartment complex, an average high-rise building located right by railroad tracks. Flynn always grinned at the railroad tracks. The very phrase "wrong side of the tracks" could have come from that very intersection. On his side was a more calm, well-off area. The other side was certainly one of many ghettos in the area.

As Flynn pulled into his bike's parking spot. An African-american man and a pasty-white man approached him.

"Hey, Brownhair. Get your ass over here." The black man said.

Flynn stared in front of him before slowly turning around. The two men grew maniacal smirks and ran up to Flynn.

"Flynn. You prison-ass bitch. When'd you get out?" The black man asked

"Seriously, bro. You gave us a heart attack. We thought we were gonna collect a reward for you."

"Who said I got out legally?" Flynn said.

The faces of the two men fell faster than a bowling ball off of the Westin-Peachtree Hotel

"Maybe I gave that security guard lady a little...favor." Flynn winked at the two.

The two busted out into a chorus of laughter "Shut up, bro. We need to tell Easter and Pablo about you."

Flynn's eyes bulged open, and he hushed the two loud men in front of him.

"No, bros. I don't wanna talk to those guys for a while."

A soft wind blew around the small group, and a bird chirped on the pine tree behind Flynn. He coughed a few times dn returned looks from the other two men. He lifted his palms up and raised an eyebrow.

"What? I don't wanna deal with that anymore. I just got back from a place, and it's actually legit."

"I was gonna ask about the monkey suit. You getting a real job?" The African-American man asked.

"Yeah. It's at Hetalia. You've probably never heard of it, but it's the real shit. With real money."

The white guy waved his hands in front of him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean, never heard of it? You think we're a bunch of hood rats now, don't you?"

Flynn sighed, and he put his hands on one of the two guy's shoulders.

"Taylor, Perry. I appreciate you getting me some of that money, but that's small time stuff. I'm talking about clean bank here, to put it in your words. Rest assured, by next year, when I'm a millionaire, and your still dodging bullets in the hood, I'll get you a mail room job."

Taylor and Perry erupted in laughter and hugged the well-dressed man in front of them. Flynn looked up at the clear, sapphire sky. The two men broke the bro-hug apart, and they fist-bumped each other before crossing to the other side of the tracks. Flynn took his green helmet off, and trudged into the lobby of the apartment.

After going up the silver elevator and hearing more Whitney Houston's strong, raspy voice erupt in the small traveling box, Flynn exited onto the twenty-eight floor. He turned the corner to his apartment: room 1843. As he looked into his pocket for the key, he saw a figure in the corner of his brown eyes. He looked up and saw a female with flowing brown hair and green eyes. Another man with striking red eyes and chalk-white skin saw him and poked the women on her shoulder.

"There he is, Lizzie. Exactly how he described him." the man said in a loud, booming voice.

Flynn did not know whether to think of them as cops and run, or to think of them as enemies, and run anyway. He was on probation, after all.

* * *

**Welcome everybody, to yet another endeveour. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. As always, comment, compliment, or insult away. The more response the better fro you. You can purge away your demons, and I can be better. It only takes twenty seconds, and it;s worth so much. Please leave any OC or story suggestions as you wish. Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

Gilbert Beilschmidt was sprawled on the dingy couch in the middle of a cramped living room. Piles of unopened boxes littered the room. The stereo system was spitting out some schmaltzy pop song that Gilbert couldn't stand. He covered his head with a pillow, and he shivered at the feel of the cool air coming from the air conditioning unit. The room had a nice fan with a light, and the lamp beside him shouted out pre-2000's.

Suddenly, he smelled something exquisite. His eyes shot open, and he saw the emerald eyes of his longtime co-worker, Elizabeta Herdevary holding a bottle of beer with fog wafting out of the container. His smirked grinned, and he laughed.

"Kesesese. Lizzie, I didn't think you would be giving me beer."

"You idiot, you got knocked out by your new employee." Elizabeta smacked Gilbert in his forehead.

Gilbert shot up on the couch, and gingerly rose to his feet on the hardwood floor. He clutched his head, and he rubbed in a small circle around his temple. He looked up and saw a counter that was in front of a kitchen. He walked several feet to the marble counter. He looked around the corner past the refrigerator and mahogany cabinets. There was a man in a grey blazer and tie, with matching pants. His brown eyes looked at Gilbert's red ones, and he smiled as his face flushed red.

"Hello, Mister Beilschmidt, I believe you've met me." Flynn said.

"No. Who the hell are you?" Gilbert asked.

"Gilbert. Did you get amnesia? This is the new employee. We're here for briefing."

Gilbert hung his mouth open and turned to the man. He closed his eyes and looked to the ground. Flynn watched while playing with a yo-yo in his hand. Gilbert opened his crimson eyes. He put his hand on Elizabeta's back, and pushed her curvy frame forward, causing her to shriek.

"Mister Employee, this is Elizabeta, long time friend with benefit." Gilbert said with a snort.

Elizabeta took a frying pan that was resting on Flynn's grease-stained stove, and waved it in front of her. That was all Gilbert needed to see, for he slunked away from her reach and moved to the long glass table. He took a seat diagonally from Flynn.

"So, birdie, your gonna be my underling soon."

"What the hell, Gilbert. How much did you have?"

"Two or seven."

"What is he talking about?" Flynn asked.

"Nothing. Make a good impression, Gilbert." She took a newspaper laying on the counter and rolled it up. She swung and collided the paper with Gilbert's head, causing him to close his eyes and grimace. She looked up at Flynn and smiled.

"Hello. I'm Elizabeta Herdevary. I'll be your cube neighbor." She reached her arm out for a handshake.

Flynn smiled and took her arm. He yanked it towards him "We give hugs out around here, lady."

With that, he wrapped his arms around Elizabeta, and enclosed her in a tender hug. Elizabeta's face wore one of shock, then she smiled. Gilbert's snowflake face turned red, and he stood up and put his arms around Elizabeta. He yanked her away, and kept her in his arms. All she could do was stick her tongue out at her.

"That's good, but save all that for the parties later in the year. I'm your team manager. It's company policy to show up here, so I was dragged down to say hello and tell you a thing or two."

Flynn pointed at him and smirked. He reached down and picked up a jar of candy corn. "Yes, I heard there was a team thing going on here. Who's on it?" Flynn said as he unscrewed the glass top and scooped up a handful of the sun-yellow candy corn.

"Well, let's count it down. Lizzie?" Gilbert said with a smug smirk on his face.

Elizabeta huffed and twirled her hair around. "Don't call me Lizzie. So, we have me, him, a french guy named Francis, and Alfred. He's American."

"Great. So, what do I need to know about them?" Flynn asked.

"Well, Francis is always horny, Alfred's an obnoxious idiot. More so than Gilbert."

Gilbert looked at Elizabeta and put his heart on his chest. Elizabeta rolled her eyes and raised her palms up.

"I'm up to here with all of them, so I need someone to balance things out."

"I'm not sure I'm really tha-."

A knock was heard at the door. The three of them looked at the wooden red door. Flynn laughed as he walked towards the door.

"I'll get this. I get a lot of visits." Flynn said.

Flynn's face fell as he turned his head away from them. Flynn was worried. He had a number of people come to his house during the past. However, they had come for more illicit activities, like drug trafficking. Flynn had a very spotty background, due to his semi-poor stature. When he first moved to Atlanta to go to college, he was poorer than one of the panhandlers under bridges that sell tickets to Braves games. After meeting one person and another, he was able to realize the profitability of such issues. Hopefully, the person at the door wasn't somebody looking for any products or trouble.

When he opened the door, he blew out a sigh of relief. Before him was a teenage girl with short brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a blue and white school uniform, and she wore a mischievous smile on her face. She had her arms on her hips, and they stood in silence, like she was waiting for a chess player to make the first move. Flynn grinned and pushed his hair back from his eyes.

"Hello there miss, can I help you find something?" Flynn asked.

"Yes. I heard some strange noises up here, and I wanted to know if there was anything weird going on."

"None of your business, girly." Gilbert crackled from behind Flynn.

While Elizabeta smacked Gilbert with a newspaper like a dumb dog, the girls eyes widened, as well as her smile. She raced past Flynn and stopped in front of Gilbert.

"Red eyes and pale skin. You look so weird. Where are you from? That's natural, right?" The girl asked loudly.

Gilbert was taken aback from the bluntness of the girl. He frowned and tapped the girl to arms length away from him.

"I'm from the awesome land of Prussia, thank you. And yes, this awesomeness is natural."

"So your an alien from a different land." The girl said as she patted Gilbert down and prodded him with her hands.

"Of course not. What makes you think that?" Gilbert shrieked.

"Well, you say your from a country that doesn't exist anymore, so it has to be another planet."

Elizabeta wrapped her arms around Gilbert as Gilbert lunged at the girl. The girl smirked and started to turn back to the door. She looked up at Flynn, and she took his limp hand into her own and shook it.

"Let me know when he comes back. I need further examination. Also, if any strange occurrences happen to you, I live in room 844, and I'm by the lobby often." She said as she entered the freezing hallway with deep purple walls.

Flynn smiled, and then his face lit up from recognition. "I've seen you around. You and those four other people walk around the hood all the time."

"The weirdest things happen in the hood."

"And nothing bad has happened to you?" Flynn asked in disbelief.

"Unfortunately, nothing exciting. But let me know. The name's Haruhi."

With that, she skipped down the hall to the elevator. She pushed the button and it lit up to a golden yellow. he door opened, and she disappeared into the empty space of the elevator shaft.

Flynn looked back at Gilbert, who was seething from the encounter. Elizabeta walked up towards Flynn, and nodded her head towards him.

"It looks like there isn't much help we can give. The alien doesn't approve of this area, and he'll drink you dry if we stay any longer." Flynn nodded and stood outside the doorway.

Gilbert staggered to the door and looked down at the slightly shorter Flynn. Flynn grimaced as the beer-scented breath raked into his nose. "Make sure your in at the right time. Also, park on the third deck."

"That's alright. I drive a bike." Flynn winked at the two as they left. Gilbert threw his arms up in the air, while Elizabeta hushed him. They walked to the elevator and went inside it. Flynn smiled and shook his head, before he closed the tomato-red door.

* * *

**As always, reviews, comments ,concerns, insults, and inquires are more than welcome. Please suggest any ideas that may come into your head. And please review. It takes about twenty seconds. By the way, who got the reference? **


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